4-star class of 2024 SF Karter Knox commits to Kentucky

Nearly seven years after his brother committed to the Kentucky Wildcats, four-star small forward Karter Knox has done the same.

Knox announced his pledge to Kentucky on Saturday night during halftime of Game 2 in the Overtime Elite Finals. The 6-foot-6 class of 2024 small forward is the sixth commit for John Calipari this cycle, which ranks as the second-best group in the country behind Duke. Knox is considered a four-star prospect and the No. 20 overall high school senior in the country by the On3 Industry Ranking.

“Coach Calipari, he sent a lot of people to the league, and I want to be a pro,” Knox said during his announcement. “He told me he’s gonna make me a pro. I’m ready to hoop and win a national championship.”

He’ll follow in the footsteps of his older brother and former Wildcat Kevin Knox, who played one season in Lexington, won SEC Freshman of the Year, and then became a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Karter chose UK over the likes of Louisville, South Florida, and a return to Overtime Elite.

Not a bad way to close out the day after Kentucky took down No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville 85-81 just an hour prior. Welcome to the Big Blue Nation, Mr. Knox.

Knox and his camp did an excellent job of keeping his recruitment under wraps. Even as late as Friday night, when a decision time was finally announced, there was no real sense of who the frontrunner was. There have been points over the last year where all four options were leading the charge.

But the tide began to shift toward Kentucky come Saturday morning.

Now publicly locked in with the ‘Cats, Knox joins a six-man recruiting class that includes center Jayden Quaintance (No. 8 overall), point guard Boogie Fland (No. 19), small forward Billy Richmond (No. 23), center Somto Cyril (No. 41), and point guard Travis Perry (No. 86). Knox currently plays for Overtime Elite’s Rod Wave Elite (RWE) and is teammates with Cyril. The two are battling the City Reapers in the league’s championship series.

Knox and RWE won Game 1 of the five-game series on Friday night, 77-69, as the newest Wildcat finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-19 shooting. At the halftime break of Game 2 on Saturday — when Knox committed to Kentucky — he’s up to 12 points as RWE trails 42-40. Game 3 is set for Tuesday, March 14 on Amazon Prime.